“Faith… Until It Costs You Something”

At some point, faith stops being comfortable. 

In this episode of Bible, Basically, we explore what happens when belief moves beyond ideas and starts showing up in real life — in decisions, in relationships, and in moments where doing what’s right actually costs you something. Because following Jesus isn’t just about what you agree with… it’s about what you’re willing to choose when it’s not easy. 

This conversation looks at where faith collides with everyday life, why that tension exists, and how those small, unseen decisions are often where real transformation begins. 

Bible, Basically — figuring out faith, together. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:02

Hey everybody, welcome back to Bible basically, where we are figuring out faith together. So, a couple things. I wanted to thank everybody who's been listening. It means a lot. You know, there's not a lot of us. In fact, after the past few episodes, there's about half of us left. But I knew that as this process went along, we would lose some folks. I want to encourage those of you who are left listening to continue to develop your journey to strengthening your relationship with God. Some of the things that you are going to hear me say, some of the things that you're going to experience outside of this podcast, which hopefully is plenty, they're going to hurt to hear. Thank you. But leaving reviews and leaving comments really affects the algorithm on the searchability of the podcast itself. So the more you guys interact with it, the more visible it becomes to others, even those that you don't necessarily share it with. And if you think this is valuable information, if you think that this is good info, it would really be great if we could get the word out there and bring more people on board. But like I said, I don't care if my listens at the end of the week is one. So moving into today's topic, we're going to talk a little bit about faith. And I know I've been threatening to lighten things up a little bit. And look, this is a little bit lighter, right? It's not a light topic, but it is a great topic when you understand it. Okay. And the title of this episode you may see is Faith Until it costs you something. The basis of this was the Gospel of Luke, chapter 9, verse 23. And it really is talking about where does your faith go when it really counts? See, faith is easy, right? Faith is easy until it isn't. It's easy when it stays in your head. It's easy when it doesn't interfere with your life. But then comes a moment. A decision, a reaction, a choice. We're doing suddenly it costs you something. Your pride, your comfort, your patience, your control. And that's where a lot of people stall. It's not because they don't believe. It's because they don't want to pay the cost. Luke 9 23 says, if anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. That's not vague. He gives you three specific commands. Deny yourself. Take up your cross and do it every day. This isn't like a casual belief. This isn't some willy-nilly thought process. This isn't just going to church on Sundays and singing the worship music and then leaving your cross at the door until the next week. This is intentional sacrifice. When somebody ticks you off and you want to snap back, but don't. But you choose not to. When you're in the middle of a fight with your spouse, and your ego wants the last word, but you just let it go. Those are the moments where we really get tested. Luke sixteen, verse ten says, Whoever is faithful in very little is also faithful in much. Like I said, faith gets tested in the small stuff. Last episode, we talked about the desires of the flesh. And I'm going to tell you right now, having real faith and demonstrating real faith, you're going to feel the tension that we talked about last episode. We talked about Galatians 5, verse 17, where it says, for the desires of the flesh are against the spirit, and the desires of the spirit are against the flesh. That pull, that resistance, that is the cost. It's alcohol, it's cigarettes, it's drugs. But there's so many things that could be considered addiction. And you could substitute that word addiction with idolatry. And that's a big religious word. But it's the truth. Anything that you put in your life above your spiritual journey is idolatry.

SPEAKER_00 9:54

Anything. Video games.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

Could be I don't know. Sports. Could be money. Could be work. Doesn't all have to be bad. Doesn't all have to be stuff that's bad for us. Go into the gym. Anything that sits between you and your spiritual journey and your relationship with Christ is idolatry. And that includes addiction. Why do I say that? Because I go to a Bible study every Saturday. And we talk a lot about our day-to-day, our spiritual journeys. And we have a real solid group of guys who talk a lot about what we're going through and things that we struggle with. And I share a lot of the story of you know how I quit smoking. I was a two-pack a day smoker for a while. And one day I lived in Chicago, and it was like three degrees outside, and I was completely bundled up. I had a park on with a hood and had a little opening in the hood, probably just the size of peeking my nose out and my lips so that I could put the cigarette in there, light it up, and take a drag. And I just bought a fresh pack of cigarettes. And to those of you who smoke right now, you know that wasn't cheap. And lit the first one, took a big long drag, and it was three degrees, and not only did it taste horrible, it hurt. And in that moment, I was like, what am I doing? What is wrong with me? Why am I doing this? And I put the cigarette out and I took the entire brand new pack and I crushed it up and I threw it away. Why am I telling that story? Think of how many people struggle with quitting smoking. And the reason people struggle with quitting smoking isn't because it isn't because they can't quit. They try. Most people want to quit on the surface, but inside they don't. And it's the same thing with faith. You want that faith. You know it's good for you. You know that your relationship with God needs to be there. So many people have approached me since I've started this podcast and said, Dennis, I want to increase my spiritual life. I want to have a relationship with Christ. The desire of there, the spirit is willing. But the flesh is weak. Things get in the way. Oh, I was gonna read my Bible, but I really had a lot of work to do. And by the time I got done with work, it was I was so exhausted. Yeah, no, no, no. I was I was gonna read my Bible or I was gonna go to church this week, but I you know I had something else to do on Sunday, and I had just had too much housework to do. My problem the other day, I told you guys about it it happens to everybody. I wanted to go to church last Sunday, but I didn't. I was depressed. And I made excuses to myself, and I didn't go, and I suffered worse. But it's hard to take up that cross. When your faith is tested, do you pass that test? Or do you throw the cross down because it's too hard in that moment?

SPEAKER_00 15:28

It's too hard.

SPEAKER_01 15:41

Following Jesus isn't easy following Jesus often means choosing what's right over choosing what's easy.

SPEAKER_00 16:01

And that's not natural for us.

SPEAKER_01 16:15

Matthew seven thirteen says, Enter by the narrow gate. Jesus was describing two paths one wide and easy to enter, and one narrow and more difficult. And he tells us go through the narrow gate. That path is not wide because it is not effortless. I am not trying to paint a picture of Christianity being the most difficult, horrendous, horrible decision that you're ever going to make in your entire life. It is not. Faith can be difficult. Especially in the beginning, truthfully, all the time for everyone. But you start to learn to understand it and you start to learn to trust. So in that respect, it gets a little easier. When faith costs you, I don't mean that you're earning anything. It's not about being perfect. It's not about getting it right every time. We are human. God doesn't demand perfection.

SPEAKER_00 18:15

We're not, it's not possible.

SPEAKER_01 18:23

Remember when we talked about Paul and the thorn in his side and the weakness that was given to him by God, and Paul prayed and said, Please take this thorn from my side, take this weakness from me. God responded to him. Second Corinthians 12 9, his words, God's words were, My grace is sufficient for you. My grace, God's grace, is sufficient for you. It's not about being made perfect. It's not about doing everything great all the time. It's not about being the model citizen. It's not about proving yourself. It's about choosing an overall direction and moving in that direction. There will always be setbacks. No one's perfect.

SPEAKER_00 19:33

Least of all me.

SPEAKER_01 19:37

I told you I quit smoking. And I wish I could say with honesty, that was the last cigarette I ever put in my mouth. It wasn't. But I picked a direction.

SPEAKER_00 19:55

Every once in a while I would stumble. I did. Every once in a while I would stumble. And you will too.

SPEAKER_01 20:22

And that's just the story I talked about. There's so many things that I stumble on on a regular basis. And I'm supposed to be ending the episode right now, but I want to tell one more story. Faith doesn't mean that nothing bad is ever going to happen to you. And I don't know why that came to my head.

SPEAKER_00 20:53

Somebody probably needs to hear it.

SPEAKER_01 21:02

When you find Jesus, that doesn't mean that your life is going to be perfect. That doesn't mean that bad things don't happen to God's people. And you know what? From now on, hearts will not be broken, bones will not be broken. There will be no more suffering. No. Weakness still exists. Suffering still exists.

SPEAKER_00 21:44

But so does peace and so does grace.

SPEAKER_01 21:58

And while we beg for him to Take our weaknesses, and while we beg for him to take our suffering, he responds simply with my grace is sufficient for you.

SPEAKER_00 22:21

My grace is sufficient for you.

SPEAKER_01 22:28

At some point in your life, faith stops being a belief. And real faith becomes a decision. When you stop putting things in between you and your relationship with Christ, you make a decision. But that decision isn't just made once. It's made over and over again. And it's not just in the big moments, it's in the moments that no one sees. It's in choices that no one applauds. Where it would be easier to do what you've always done. But you don't. Because now you're following something different. And yeah. Maybe it costs you something. Maybe it costs you someone. But maybe that's how you know it's real. Love you guys. God bless you. Thanks for listening. Spin Bible basically. Or we are figuring out faith.

SPEAKER_00 24:13

Together.